Living with IBD Without Cramping My Style! (Hate your guts, not your life!)

About

Hey there. My name is Sarah. I don’t “look sick” but I am. I’m also an outdoorsy type, a writer, traveler, and owner of two adorable French Bulldogs. Until the summer of 2013 I hardly thought about my guts, and certainly never considered how they might derail my otherwise full and happy life. In October of 2013, after 3 months of some pretty nasty and rapidly deteriorating symptoms, culminating in a lovely 1-week hospital stay, I was officially diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I then had to stay out of work for a month. Since then it’s been a roller coaster, and I’m still adjusting to this new “normal.” Frankly, it kinda sucks. I miss gluten. I miss fresh vegetables, dairy, things with carbonation, breath-fresheners…the list goes on. What have I gained after everything I lost? A little weight, and a whole lot of perspective. So, in the spirit of great literary gastrointestinal-related idioms referencing extreme punishment via having a person’s guts for garters, welcome to my blog!

In fair warning, this is a frank blog. Not graphic, not obscene, but frank. Let’s face it, nobody wants to hear about bowel movements (outside, perhaps, new parents and dog owners). We don’t usually dwell on ours (at least I didn’t before UC) and discussing it openly and candidly is a social faux-pas. Except here. Here, there are no fairies or angels to take away our feces overnight, and a scene from one of our trips to the bathroom resembles something out of World War Z rather than that cute children’s book pictured above, Everyone Poops! So faint of heart, stop reading now, because this gal is going to tell it like it is. And guess what? Everyone does poop, so let’s dispense with the awkward embarrassment. As refined, evolved and cultivated as we’d like to think we are, we’re animals. What goes in must come out, and some of us find ourselves in Hell before we find relief. It’s nature, it’s natural, and it’s getting discussed.

Goodreads

Live A Little

“Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” - Anthony Bourdain

Never Diet

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.” - Erma Bombeck

Mark Twain had IBD and liked it?

“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” - Mark Twain

Eat, Read, Try Not to Think About Food

“Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.”
— C.S. Lewis. (We're going to have to amend that to "Reading is a pleasure that combines admirably with trying not to think about how unpleasantly hungry you are." - MyGutsForGarters.)